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Enjoy Country Life in a Beautiful Mountain Horse Farm Setting

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About the Property

Turtle Brook Farm is set up for trail riders and is home to a half dozen Morgan horses, but its accommodations are equally suitable for hikers, fishermen, birders mountain bikers or anyone else looking to getaway to the heart of Bath County's unspoiled mountain splendor. An expert fly fishing guide/instructor on both public and private waters is available by request. Each of our two single bedroom cabins can comfortably accommodate a family of four or two couples. Each has a fully equipped kitchen, grilling facilities, pleasant living areas and porches and decks to take in wonderful farm views. Both are very comfortably and tastefully furnished.All bedding, towels, linens, kitchenware are provided. The Goldfinch cabin has a large fire pit for cool summer evenings while the Corn Flower cabin offers a cheerful chimenea experience.Should you want to bring your own horses, our facilities include two 12 by 24 run in sheds with paddocks, a working ring, pasturage and close proximity to several thousand acres of U.S. Forest land across Cobbler Mountain into Hidden Valley. We are a Morgan horse farm and offer riding lessons as well as meaningful equine interaction for young children who may be up close to these beautiful animals for the first time.

Our private 127 acre environment is a wonderful blend of meadows, pasture land and mountain trail access all of which is open to our guests. Across the fields from our 1840's farm house is a small pond with a picnic area ideal for youngsters' fishing fun. Adults will enjoy the hammock and deck overlooking the bull frog laden pond and watching the colorful dragon flies that lend their name to the site. There are multiple lovely walks throughout the farm and serious hiking on Cobbler Mountain and throughout the county.The bird and game populations on the farm are profuse and greatly varied ranging from Baltimore Orioles to Red Tail Hawks and from deer to black bear and foxes. Night skies are dark and filled with a brilliant display of stars above and, in summer, filled all around you with thousands and thousands of industrious fireflies.If you read Turtle Brook Farm's reviews you will find that most guests come here to escape the rigors of their crowded urban or suburban lives. Their are plenty of good books to read and games to play and sights to see, but cell phone service is sketchy and wireless unavailable except at the farm house which is available if outside communication is needed. And the Warm Springs library is set up for any and all computer needs as well as the Hot Springs Starbucks coffee shop.Your hosts, Lea and Claudia Campbell are always ready to answer questions, offer advice or resupply your cabin, but we know you have not come here to visit us and that you relish your privacy. Once on the farm, you are in your own world.Turtle Brook is conveniently located on U.S. 220, just two and a half miles north of the county seat of Warm Springs and eight miles north of The Homestead Resort. Lake Moomaw and Douthat State Park are within a 45 minute drive and many other natural attractions of the Allegheny Highlands are within easy reach.

Bedrooms:
1 Bedroom, Sleeps 4, Beds for 4

Bathrooms:
1 Bathroom

Other Amenities

Our premise is that most of our guests want to come here to find peaceful seclusion as a contrast to their busy lives, but for those who want to leave the farm on day trips there are endless ways to enjoy the area. A nap in the hammock after exploring our 127 acres is a great way to enjoy yourself too....moreless

Entertainment

Books:

Ever changing book selection. If a guest has not finished book before departure, they may take it home with them....moreless

The world renowned Homestead Resort and Natural Retreats luxury country getaways give Bath County a veneer of sophistication, but the great majority of the county is a vast unpopulated and unspoiled mountain paradise. More than 50 percent of its 500 square mile boundary are public lands offering the recreation of lakes and rivers and wilderness exploration. Beautiful Lake Moomaw offers wonderful fishing, boating and camping. Kayak and fish the renowned Jackson River. Enjoy the many outdoor activities at Douthat state park.

The lovely county seat of Warm Springs is home to about 270 residents and the entire county holds fewer than 5,000 people. If you are looking to get away from it all but want access to multiple outdoor activities along with great restaurants and entertainment, Bath is the place to be. Just north of Warm Springs, Turtle Brook Farm is central to everything Bath has to offer, but offers its own beautiful, historic and comfortable mountain horse farm atmosphere that may keep you close to home while you are here.

Owner info

Year Purchased: 1998

About the owner: Lea and Claudia Campbell have been a part of life in the western Virginia mountains for nearly 30 years. Lea is a retired newspaper man who for almost 20 years owned and published The Recorder, the county seat weekly for Bath and Highland Counties. Claudia is a lifelong horsewoman and mother of three grown children. Her equestrian interests have grown to include certification as an equestrian body worker with a special emphasis on equine myofacial release therapy. Through her efforts the farm's central theme is the maintenance of a small herd of Morgan horses which are used for trail riding, riding lessons and occasional breeding.
Claudia traveled extensively while growing up as the daughter on Naval parents. After graduating from Radford University, she went into the music/entertainment business.
Lea is a graduate of the University of Virginia. He taught school for several years before beginning his more than 40 year commitment to journalism.
The couple built the rental cabins almost 10 years ago as a retirement project and have taken great pleasure in sharing the farm with the many guests who have visited in that time. Both agree that being hosts to visitors appreciative of our environment from all around the region has added much to our own appreciation of the place we call home.

Why the Owner Chose Warm Springs, VA, USA: I first came to this area when I was sixteen, some 58 years ago. I drove from Charlottesville Virginia to Monterey in Highland County where we had lunch at the Monterey Inn. I knew as soon as we crested Jack Mountain and wound down to the village, this was a place to which I would return. And throughout my career, I did. Time and time again.
When three decades later the opportunity arose to purchase The Recorder, I found a way to make it happen. It meant leaving a successful corporate career, moving from a new home we had just built in Chapel Hill and convincing my water oriented wife that here would be a perfect place to rear or three young children. No easy task, but we have never looked back. Montana likes to tout itself as "the last best place." Maybe, but we would suggest that title belongs to the completely unspoiled vistas of Bath and Highland counties.

The Unique Benefits at this Cabin: There are many beautiful places surrounding our farm, but none more comfortable and welcoming than Turtle Brook. From the long range views of distant ranges to our east and south to the intimate relationship with Cobbler Mountain rising from our back yard we are blessed with a daily visual feast. Throw in rolling paddocks and pasture land, burbling Turtle Brook and deep forest cover and we truly live in a natural wonderland. That we have been able to create both a vacation business and a working horse farm that enhances this extraordinary setting rather than exploiting it deepens our knowledge that we are fortunate to be stewards of this place.